Apple Fritter Bread — Soft, fluffy quick bread that’s stuffed with apples, cinnamon, and sugar!! Like apple fritters in bread form!! Perfect with coffee or tea, serve this delicious apple bread warm with whipped butter.
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Easy Apple Fritter Bread Recipe
As a kid, I remember going to our local donut shop and seeing the fresh apple fritters lined up on the baking racks. Sometimes, if we went early enough, we could see the icing still dripping off of them from having just been drizzled. We would order ours and devour the fried treats in mere seconds, wishing we had just one more to enjoy.
Now that I am older and unfortunately don’t have the same metabolism, I have added this Apple Fritter Bread into our Fall rotation because we all get to enjoy the same great flavors, with less calories as this bread is baked, not fried.
It’s the best apple bread I’ve ever had. Actually, it’s more like an apple cake disguised as bread, but if we call it cake, it may not count as breakfast and we wouldn’t want that, right?!
This bread is full of sweet apples and so pretty when topped with the sweet glaze. Mini loaves make wonderful gifts too!
What You’ll Love about Apple Bread
- This bread uses Fall ingredients and spices that everyone loves this time of year. It’s Fall in bread form.
- This bread freezes perfectly. It will stay fresh in the freezer for up to six months.
- It makes a thoughtful gift perfect for any occasion. Christmas, house warming, for a loved one, and more.
- The icing drizzled on top contrasts beautifully with the moist cinnamon apple bread underneath.
What Apples to Use for Baking
The best apples to use when making apple bread is one with a balance of sweet and tart flavors that won’t break down in the baking process. They are crisp, firm, sweet-tart and can stand up to the heat of the oven or stove without turning mushy. Granny Smith apples are a great option as they embody all these traits. A few more great options are Jonathon, Cortland, Braeburn, and/or honey-crisp. If you use sugary-sweet apples, you won’t be able to control the level of sweetness and it may make the bread a bit too sweet.
Ingredients needed for Apple Fritter Bread
To make this apple quick bread recipe, you’ll need:
Cinnamon Mixture
- Brown Sugar- this gives the mixture a warm molasses flavor
- Cinnamon- adds such a warm, Fall flavor
Bread
- Sugar- sweetens the bread without overpowering it with rich flavors.
- Butter- be sure to soften the butter to allow it to combine easier
- Eggs- these hold the bread together
- Vanilla Extract- always optional, but highly recommended
- Flour- all purpose flour, this is the base of the recipe
- Baking Powder- this helps the bread from becoming too dense
- Milk- plain, unsweetened
Apple Mixture
- Apples- I use Granny Smith, but see notes above for options
- Sugar- helps sweeten the apples
- Cinnamon- brings that Fall flavor into the apple mixture
Glaze
- Powdered Sugar- this is the base of the glaze
- Milk- unflavored and unsweetened, this helps create the glaze
How to make Apple Fritter Bread
The apple cinnamon bread comes together quickly, easily, without a mixer or yeast, and with ingredients you likely have on hand! See full recipe ingredients and directions at the bottom of this post.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×5 loaf pan.
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In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
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In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric mixer. Once creamy, add in the eggs and vanilla extract.
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Combine the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl and add into the creamed butter mixture. Add in the milk. Stir to combine. Set aside.
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In a small bowl, combine the chopped apples with the 2 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
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Pour half the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
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Add half the apple mixture on top.
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Sprinkle half the cinnamon/sugar mixture you set aside earlier on top of the apples.
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Add remaining batter, followed by remaining apples, and rest of sugar/cinnamon mixture.
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Bake in preheated oven for about 55-60 minutes, or until cooked through.
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Once done, remove from oven and allow to cool for about 20 minutes before slicing.
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Combine the powdered sugar and milk together in a small bowl and drizzle over bread.
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Slice and serve!
Tips for making the BEST Apple Fritter Bread
- Be sure to thoroughly grease the loaf pan to avoid any sticking.
- Do NOT over-mix the batter. Stir until just combined otherwise the bread can become dense.
- Allow the bread to fully cool before adding the glaze so it doesn’t melt off.
- Feel free to add in some nuts, perhaps even roasted if desired. Such a tasty addition to this bread.
How to Store Apple Fritter Bread
Keep the apple bread wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container. It will keep in the refrigerator or on the counter for up to four days.
To freeze, store in a freezer safe container for up to 6 months. Simply allow to thaw and microwave to reheat.
Do you love apples? If so, you’ll love these other apple favorites:
Incredible Apple Bread– this quick bread is bursting with Fall flavor and uses only a few ingredients!
Cream Cheese Caramel Apple Dip– the ULTIMATE Fall treat ready to devour in under 20 minutes!
Apple Cinnamon Crumb Cake- apple bits throughout a moist, flavorful Fall coffee cake
Soft Apple Spice Cookies– soft, warmly spiced cookies with an apple pie filling and caramel drizzle.
Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread– same monkey bread we all grew up enjoying, now made with a Fall twist
Cinnamon Apple Cream Cheese Bake– whether enjoyed for breakfast or as a sweet treat, this is creamy, apple filled, and bursting with Fall flavors
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Apple Fritter Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 apples, peeled/chopped
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric mixer.
- Once creamy, add in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Combine the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl and add into the creamed butter mixture.
- Add in the milk. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the chopped apples with the 2 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
- Pour half the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Add half the apple mixture on top.
- Sprinkle half the cinnamon/sugar mixture you set aside earlier on top of the apples.
- Add remaining batter, followed by remaining apples, and rest of sugar/cinnamon mixture.
- Bake in preheated oven for about 55-60 minutes, or until cooked through.
- Once done, remove from oven and allow to cool for about 20 minutes before slicing.
- Combine the powdered sugar and milk together in a small bowl and drizzle over bread.
- Slice and serve! Enjoy!
Nutrition
Recipe updated 10/19/2022
Diane
I forgot to add that hubby liked it! Also, I left it in the pan 20 minutes after it finished baking and I lined the bottom of pan with wax paper along with greasing the side of pan. Came out great!!
Kristin
Yay!! Love hearing that! So glad it was hubby approved and it was a success!
Diane
This turned out Perfect! SOOO Good! The only problem is handling it. Because it is a light bread it is a bit flimsy for handling. Might be easier when it cools. I couldn’t wait :). To help the next person: I used 3 cups of apples cut into about 1/4″ pieces and smaller. Next time I would only use 1 T. of milk to the powdered sugar. It was too thin with 3 and does not look like the picture. This is definitely a keeper recipe! Takes a while to put together but worth it!!!!
Kristin
Yay!! So glad you enjoyed it!! I made this the other week and am already craving it again!!
Diane
I wish you would give measurements in cups etc. My apples are HUGE! I am going to use 1 and 1/2 of them. Hope it works! We LOVE bakery fritters so I’m anxious to try this as my husband takes a dozen fritters to bible study @ $25.00 a dozen!! Hope he likes these :)!
Kristin
Sorry about that, I would estimate about 3-4 medium, or 2 large apples for this recipe!
Becky Clever
Awesome, my sons family, my husband and I loved it. planning to make again soon. I’ll likely double the recipe to make 2 loafs. I was wondering instead of 2 loafs will this recipe work in a Bundt pan when serving more people. Thanks, Becky
Kristin
Yay!! Glad you enjoyed! Although I haven’t tried it in a bundt pan, it should work great! Just adjust the baking time as I would think it may take a bit longer! Enjoy!
Diane
Do we leave it in the pan 20 min before removing? It talks about slicing in two different places.
Kristin
I recommend letting it sit in the pan for a bit to cool off and fully set up, maybe 10-15 minutes!
Jess
Made this this morning! But as a curious, amateur baker, I wondered at the amount of liquid in the batter before adding the apples, which are also pretty full of liquid. So I cut the milk to 1/4 cup, and purely out of curiosity I added a good splash of ACV… haha! Also I didn’t want one heavy layer of apples in the middle to potentially cause mushiness, so I mixed the apples in the batter before spreading in the pan. Also I added cold butter to the almost-streusel topping to make it slightly more streusel-like. Baked I think 53 minutes. The result – PURE deliciousness. Like super yummy. Just not giving a 5 star since I changed it! Lol. But I would recommend!
Kristin
Yay! Great changes you made! So glad you enjoyed this recipe!!
Ricky Adams
I wonder if you could use stevia?
Kristin
I don’t see why that wouldn’t work!!
Linda
If you do muffins – how many – 12? or 6?
Kristin
This would make about 12 muffins!! Enjoy!
cheryl
made this recipe, not a big fan! too many steps and dishes. Bread was too sweet, the texture was not right. I put the double batch down garbage disposal. I will say I read the recipe wrong and missed 2 small steps and also used Dark Brown Sugar. I will try again for 1 loaf and pray it turns out. nIfnit does Imwill re-post
Kristin
Oh bummer! So sorry you weren’t a huge fan of this!! Hope trying again makes it more of a hit!!
krist
what kind of apples do you use??
Kristin
Any kind work, but I love the granny smith personally!
Sarah Barnes
I just finished making this recipe into muffins. I didn’t divide it really well so they are a bit lopsided but I just had one (couldn’t wait for them to cool) and they are delicious. I wasn’t sure how long to bake them as muffins but 25 minutes seemed to do it. Next time I will make as a loaf as it would be easier. Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
Kristin
Ooooo muffins sound yummy, but I agree, the loaf is probably easier to make! Glad you enjoyed it either way though!!
beth
making this later today , however I’m looking at the brown sugar and cinnamon topping and thinking seems such a small amount for such med loaf , also saw a typo somewhere online with the same recipie that called for 1 1/2 cups vanilla I was like to much vanilla so was glad I looked around and saw the same recipie , how small do you cut your apples would smaller diced up apple work or do I need bigger chunks like in apple pie , thanks
Kristin
Hi!! The amounts are correct for the brown sugar/cinnamon. It is more of a streusel than topping! As for the apple size, a small chunk is great!! Hope you enjoy this!!
Barbara
This was a success with everyone I doubled the recipe and made a big casserole dish full
Kristin
Yea!! So glad it was a hit with everyone!!!
C.J.Nelson
Want to try this when I get home
Kristin
Let me know how it turns out!!
Shirley
This sounds wonderful–do you think it would freeze? This would make wonderful food gifts for the holidays
Kristin
Definitely! This should freeze perfectly!!
linda
this and bread puddin are my favorites
Kristin
I have never tried bread pudding, that is something I must try!! Yum 🙂
Elsie Bravo
Do you add any salt at all. It’s not listed. Want to make this right away.
Kristin
Nope, no salt needed!! Enjoy!!
Robert
Love this bread. I have made it many times since last month. It’s actually my first ever baked product. I see it as my first ever step towards becoming a chef. So thank you very much!!
Kristin
My pleasure! I am so glad you enjoy it! I haven’t made it in a while, but I definitely need to as its quite tasty!!
Steve
Made this this afternoon in two small loaf pans. I didn’t change a thing and the mini loafs can out beautiful about 3 inches tall. I will double the recipe next time to make 4 loafs. Might use buttermilk and add pecan chips. This is going in my recipe file.
Kristin
Oh awesome! Great idea on making mini loaves!! I bet pecans and buttermilk would be a great addition to this recipe!! Good thinking!! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Arlene
I made this just a hour ago and was not impressed.
Your ingredients say brown sugar and I always use dark brown sugar and so wonder if this might have been my problem. I added pecans and it turned out like a cottage pudding and wish I’d made a vanilla sauce.
Also there is not a place where I could print it.
Kristin
Oh no 🙁
I am so sorry it didn’t turn out good! I use dark brown sugar too 🙁
There should be a print button for the recipe on the bottom of the post, near the “pin it” buttons. I will go take a look to make sure those features are still working.
Again, I am so sorry it didn’t turn out good, what a bummer!
Anonymous
This bread is absolutely awesome!
Kristin
Yea! So glad you enjoy it! It is a favorite of mine for sure, 🙂
maxine
I make french toast with this bread,very good.
Kristin
Oh yum!! Great idea!!
Theresa
I plan on making this on Thursday – thank you for the recipe!
Kristin
Oh awesome! Let us know what you think of it! My hubby brought some to work and everyone went crazy over it, so hopefully its a hit with you too!! 😉
Anonymous
This Is absolutely delicious!!
Kristin
Yea!!! So glad you enjoy it as much as we do! It is a new favorite in my home, 🙂